Endurance
by lcec
Summary: A new girl, Elle, is brought into the prison. It's clear she's not strong and needs protection and help. Is the group strong enough to look after another person? How will they interact with someone who can't really look after themselves. A story of life, love and the human will to endure. DarylxOC
1. Chapter 1

*****Ok, ok, ok. I'm holding my hands up! I can't believe it has been so long since I posted anything on here! Life just gets in the way doesn't it? Anyway, I've been bitten with the creative bug again, so I will be re-posting my original chapters one at a time then updating and completing the fic's one at a time! (I promise) Happy reading!x****

He sped along the country roads on his motorbike. The wind whipping away at his face as the thoughts of everyone he lost today crept into his mind. T-Dog, Lori, Carol, it was almost unbearable, thank God for the little one now so he had a reason to get up and do something. He couldn't bear the thought of being back at the prison, dealing with Rick coming to terms with his grief, seeing Carl, looking at that little boy who had just lost his mother. Daryl was never any good at dealing with feelings or emotions, his or anyone else's. He had been brought up to believe that showing emotion was wrong, hell, talking about feelings was a sign of weakness! He knew it was wrong but it was a hard lesson to unlearn.

He had been riding for nearly an hour, keeping to the back roads and country lanes. Maggie and Herschel had told him about a hospital in the next town. Hospitals were the worst places to go to. They fell first in the outbreak, before anyone knew what this thing was, all the people with fever and ones who had been bit were brought to hospitals where they ultimately died, turned and infected others. Hospitals quickly lost control, but Daryl had no other choice, they had been collecting things all throughout Lori's pregnancy for the baby, clothes, diapers, medicines from clinics and houses they had came across during the winter. But they didn't have any formula. Daryl didn't know if it was short-sightedness on the groups behalf or if Lori just didn't want to tempt fate. It was a mistake, Daryl could see that now. They should have been prepared for every outcome, "Didn't matter now" he thought as he pulled up. He wheeled his bike over to the side of the country road. The hospital lay on the other side of the woods, about a quarter of a mile, he'd trek through the forest for the last part of the journey, the bike was too noisy to ride up to such a potentially dangerous place.

He covered the last part of the journey relatively uneventfully, only coming across one walker which he had quickly dispatched with an arrow to the head. He crept up a hillside and lay down once he reached the top. The hospital lay in front of him, large, intimidating building, once a place of help and recuperation, now a desolate reminder of the hell on earth they were living. Broken windows, black charred walls where there had clearly been a fire, overturned cars in the car park and of course, walkers, aimlessly staggering about the hospital grounds.

He pulled out Dale's binoculars and took his time studying the hospital grounds. There was a large fence around the hospital much the same as the one at the prison, the gates had been chained and forced open. He noticed there were also holes in places of the chain link fence were other scavengers had probably forced their way through. He sat on the hill for about 15 minutes meticulously planning his entry. The little one was relying on him, he wasn't about to run in and get stranded or bit what good would that do anyone, especially baby Grimes.

He had made it down to the fence without being spotted, using some bushes and scrubs as cover. The dangerous part was slipping through the fence; he decided to go through a hole that was already there, rather than taking longer than needed to cut a new one in the fence. He picked the gap at the far diagonal end from the hospital entrance as there was a car on its side in the car park, obscuring the walker's views. He took it as a bad sign that there were more walkers milling about inside the hospital grounds than outside of it. He quickly pushed himself through the gap and dashed over behind the upturned vehicle. He had about another 150 yards to get across before going through an opened side door. He had been watching the doorway from his previous vantage point and it didn't seem like there were any walkers in the hall, none that walked past the door anyway. He carefully chose his moment and sprinted towards the door, a least 3 of them had spotted him, he took one out that was in his way but he just outran the others, he lunged through the door, scanning the hallway while simultaneously closing the door and securing it with a small chain and padlock he had brought with him. He held his breath as he scanned the dark hallway, the lights flickered overhead and the door behind him was beginning to bang with the walkers outside trying to get in, he decided to move on quickly as any noise that the walkers outside were making would surely attract more from inside.

The hospital had a maternity ward; Herschel had told Daryl that his children had been born there. One advantage of a hospital is that its whole layout was painted on the walls, signs hung above his head telling him where to go, he just had to follow a green stripe painted on the wall to reach his destination, he had wished all the places he scavenged were as helpful this, it would have made the winter months moving from place to place a whole lost easier. Daryl was surprised to find the ground floor empty of walkers, they must have been forced outside when the food source in the hospital dried up, but the maternity ward was on the third floor and who knows how many of them were trapped on the levels, not knowing how to navigate stairs or open doors. He found the stairwell he had to climb to get to the maternity ward. He went inside, and stopped to listen for any of the unmistakable noise of the dead. He heard some groaning from somewhere above him, it sounded faint and possibly only made by one or two of them at the most. He slowly climbed the stairs with his crossbow raised in front of him to deal with any danger. The source of the noise was to be found at the foot of the second floor stairwell, a walker was clawing towards him with its hands, its legs obviously broken by probably falling or being pushed down the stairs. An arrow straight through the eye quickly took care of it.

He got to the double doors of the maternity ward stairwell and looked through the small partition window. He scanned as far as he could see left and right but his view was limited, he slowly opened the door and cautiously stepped through, he was met with the sight of about half a dozen walkers suddenly turning around to him as their instinct for food kicked in. He quickly turned on his heels and ran to the end of the hallway, taking out another two with his knife in the process, as he turned left at the end of the hall he opened the very first door he came to as there were another couple of walkers in the distance. He quickly closed the door behind him and held his breath. "Get down!" a voice whispered with authority from across the room, he raised his crossbow and looked to where the voice came from, a woman was crouched down on the floor, aiming a revolver at his head and holding her left side which was covered in blood.

Daryl eyed her cautiously "You bit?"


	2. Chapter 2

Elle looked over the man that had just entered the room. He was tall, obviously strong and armed. He stared her down and asked again

"I said, you bit?" this time he raised his crossbow and aimed at her head. She was at a disadvantage, sure she had a gun, but it was empty, the stranger didn't know that and she didn't want him to find out.

"No, not bit I was shot. I'm trying to stop the bleeding, it's slowing down, but I'm not quite there yet." She decided to try and sound as unthreatening as she could, she knew he could easily overpower her or kill her if he wanted to so she tried to appeal to his survivors instinct, he must have one if he's still alive after all this time. "Could you please get down, and keep your voice down?" She gestured at the door he just came through, there was a window in the top half obscured by a blind but they could both make out the shadow of a walker hovering near it. "I think they can smell the blood, and the noise you just made will have riled them up for sure"

Daryl knew she was right; he slid down and sat on the floor, resting against the door he just came through, trying to offer a bit more protection from the undead. "Who shot you?" He asked the girl, never taking his eyes off her.

"My group was overrun; I got shot in the confusion and made my way here to try and get some supplies, the only thing I managed to grab was my gun."

"Where are the rest of your group?" Daryl asked her.

"I don't know, once the zombies turned up everything went crazy, I got shot and just got out of there as fast as I could" Elle was starting to worry, she couldn't read him, she normally had a good judge of character, years of working in a bar had honed her skills for spotting trouble. She was trapped with this stranger and her hackles were starting to rise. The only way out was through the door he was guarding, there was another door in the room but this was just through to a supply cupboard, the only other way out was through the window and she was 3 storeys up, "last resort" she thought. Daryl watched her frantically scan the room, she was looking for something, he could see the fear in her eyes, and he knew he was a threat to her.

"I'm not going to hurt you" he whispered,

"I'll just get what I'm here for and go"

Elle looked at him, "What are you here for?"

"Baby formula" he replied.

"You've got a baby!" she asked a bit louder than she expected.

"Ssshhh!" Daryl said as he put his finger to his lips, "take your own advice and keep your voice down! There is a baby in my group and we need formula for her"

Elle started to feel more uncomfortable, "Your part of a group? Where are they? Are they with you?" she blurted out.

"Calm down, I told you I'm not going to hurt you, I've more important things to do just now."

Elle looked at him, she still couldn't really read him but she had no other choice other than to believe him, she had a useless weapon, she hadn't seen anything else in the room to use against him and he had a clear height and weight advantage against her. She thought to herself if she made herself useful to him then maybe he would be more reluctant to hurt her. "So what do you need? I know a lot about babies, been round them all my life, practically raised my four younger cousins." She said with a forced smile on her face.

"I told you, formula!" Daryl said, he started to wonder how much blood this girl had lost, she was acting strange.

"Well do you have diapers, diaper cream, pacifiers, bottles, sterilising equipment, sterilising tablets, clothes, vests, socks, hats, blankets, bibs, you know, baby stuff?" She enquired.

"Uh, I dunno" he replied "Does she need all that stuff?" he asked her

"Oh yeah, and that's just for starters" She saw the confusion flash across his face and she couldn't help but stifle a small smile, he had no idea what he was doing, she could tell. "I could help you gather the stuff up if you could help me first" she said to him. He raised his eyebrows

"Help you with what?"

"The bullet went straight through my flank, it's a clean wound, I've managed to stitch up the front but I can't get to the back. Could you stitch it?" she asked him.

He noticed the way she spoke "You a doctor?" he asked.

"No I was a med student, a while ago, dropped out about a year in, some of the terminology must 'a stuck" she told him.

"Let me have a look" he scootched over towards her, he noticed her breath increasing as she turned her back to him and lifted her top, he could tell she was still afraid of him. He looked at the bullet hole on her lower left side, it was starting to clot but still slowly oozing blood. He considered his options, he could use her help showing him what he needed for Rick's girl, help him take the supplies back to the prison, plus she had some medical knowledge that was like goldust in this day and age, maybe the group would invite her to stay. She didn't seem a threat, she was afraid of him, but you could never tell for sure. "I'll tell you what," he said to her. "I can stitch this up for you but I'm no expert, but we do have a doctor in our group, if you help me get all the baby stuff I need I'll take you back to my group and get our Doc to look at ya"

Elle knew she needed help with her wound, it would need to be dressed properly to stop any infection, the lack of meds meant any infection could be life threatening. How bad could this guy be if he was out risking his neck to get supplies for a baby? "Ok" she agreed, "but at least bandage my back up for me"

Daryl quickly packed the bullet hole with bandages and taped it up. "That should hold for now" he said.

"What's your name?" She asked him,

"Daryl" he replied,

"I'm Elle" she said.

The supply cupboard in the room they were trapped in was like an Aladdin's cave of baby stuff. They managed to get everything Elle had listed plus infant teething tablets, medicine to treat colic and infant paracetemol. "Jackpot!" Elle had exclaimed when they opened the door to it. They had packed Daryl's bag with what they could and had managed to acquire some free samples of diaper bags that the maternity hospitals carried, they filled these and Daryl took one and Elle carried one on her uninjured side. Now they just had to get out, "easier said than done" Elle muttered to herself. The hall was still littered with walkers, they could make them out when the staggered past the door to the room Daryl and Elle were in. Daryl knew he could probably make it, but he didn't hold out much hope for Elle's chances with her injury and having to make her way down 3 flights of stairs. He looked out the window, they were above the emergency room entrance at the back of the hospital, there was an ambulance bay which was covered, and this meant they only had to jump down 2 storeys to reach it.

"Oh, only 2?" Elle had said sarcastically when Daryl had told her of his plan.

"Listen, it's not as bad as it seems" he impatiently said to her. "I'll lower you down first, so you're only going to be falling about 6 feet, we'll throw some blankets down and the mattress of this bed to break your fall" he said pointing to the hospital bed in the room.

"Why do I need to go first?" she asked him "Cause you're not strong enough to lower me down" he told her bluntly. "Now come on, we're burning daylight."

They managed to get down to the ambulance bay without too many walkers noticing them, the noise Daryl made when entering the building had brought them all round to the front of the hospital. They lowered themselves down from the ambulance bay and out through a gap in the fence.

"Where now?" Elle whispered. Daryl pointed to the woods in the distance,

"Through those trees to my transport then about a 20 minute ride, you manage that?"

"Sure I'll be fine" she lied.

It was longer going through the forest on the way back. Elle was very slow and breathing heavy. Daryl didn't say anything as he could see she was desperately trying to keep up he just slowed down a bit to let her catch up before moving off again, he was anxious to get back to the prison, he didn't know how long a newborn could go without food. When they finally made it back to the country road Elle bent over double to try and catch her breath

"You ok?" Daryl asked

"Yeah…..that was just harder than I imagined, I'm fine, just give me a minute" she said, clutching her side. When she got her breath back she stood up straight again and paled at the sight of Daryl straddled over a motorbike motioning at her to get on.

"You didn't tell me it was a bike" she said

"You never asked" he replied, chuckling at how childish he sounded. The last thing Elle wanted was to be that close to someone again so soon. She knew she would actually need to hold onto him to stop her falling off. She hesitantly made her way over,

"Don't go too fast" she told him.

"No can do," he replied "little miss is waiting on me" and with that he kicked off with a start, forcing Elle to jerk back and instinctively grab on to his sides so as not to fall off.

The prison came into view and Daryl sped up. Glenn spotted him and shouted to Axel and Oscar "Open the gates! He's back!" Daryl rode his bike right up to the entrance and jumped off his bike. He helped Elle off and grabbed the bags from her before running into the prison. Elle just stood in the prison grounds.

"This was a terrible idea," she thought, her heart was racing, her breathing increased. "I'm in a fucking prison" she noticed the two men that let them in were now locking the gate and they were both wearing prison jumpsuits. "Oh my God!" she started feeling faint, her vision was blurring and she could feel herself fall. "Oh please, not now!" she screamed into herself, but it was too late, she was out before she hit the ground.

She felt herself being carried along; she opened her eyes and saw that the tallest man in the prison jumpsuit was carrying her in his arms. He could tell he was strong, just by the way he picked her up and carried her like she was nothing. She saw he was taking her inside the prison,

"No, no!" she started to scream and thrash in his arms.

"Hey, hey it's ok" he tried to soothe her while putting her down. They were inside the prison now and she looked around, terrified. She spotted Daryl looking at her,

"Elle its ok" he said, "this is Herschel, our doctor, he'll take a look at your side" he told her while nodding towards an elderly man with grey hair, he was sitting down at a table with a young girl, and an even younger boy holding a baby. Once she saw the children in the group she started to feel more at ease.

"Sorry" she said to no-one in particular. "I got a fright when you brought me to a prison and then just disappeared, must 'a fainted, then when I woke up a man mountain in a jumpsuit was carrying me inside" she said looking at the tall man behind her that had lifted her through to the cell block.

"Just trying to help" he said to her.

Herschel had moved her through to a cell so she could lie down flat while he examined her wound. "You did a good job with your stitches he" he said to her "Daryl mentioned you had some medical training?" he enquired.

"Basic" she replied,

"Enough to do this" he said pointing to her stitches on her lower left side.

"I suppose" she said. After Herschel had cleaned up her back and stitched it up, he gave her some antibiotics to stop any infection occurring.

"It looks well enough, but you've lost a lot of blood, sitting on the back of Daryl's bike didn't do you any favours," he said. You'll probably need some new clothes, she looked down at what she was wearing, they were soaked in crimson red blood. "I'll have Maggie bring you some in. Rest up a while" he smiled at her and left her in the cell. Elle took in her surroundings, she was in a prison, it seemed secure from the undead what with all the fences and chains she had seen. The group didn't seem hostile, and there were children here surely that was a good sign. She could hear laughter coming from outside. She tried to sit up as a brunette girl walked into the cell.

"Here lem'me help you" she offered as she rushed over to help her up from the bed. "My daddy says your needing new clothes" She handed her a bundle of clothing. "Do you want me to help?" she asked

"No I'm fine" said Elle.

"Ok" replied the brunette girl "but I'm just waiting outside in case you faint again, holler when you're done"

"Thanks" Elle whispered as she began the painful task of stripping off. It was difficult with the injury to her side, but that was nothing compared to the deep purple bruises all around her thighs and the top of her arms, "they'll fade" she tried to reassure herself.

When she finally got herself ready she called the girl back in "I'm sorry are you Maggie?" she said.

"Yeah, and your Elle?" Maggie enquired. Elle nodded. "The man who fixed you up before is Herschel, my dad, you've to come and get some food in you, doctor's orders" Maggie smiled at Elle and held out her arm for Elle to grab onto. Maggie led her out to the room she was in before and led her over to a seat next to the blonde girl.

"I've got some soup for you" the blonde girl said.

"Thanks" Elle muttered trying to hold back tears. This was the best she had been treated in a long time and it was getting to her. She started spooning into the soup and looking around the room. Daryl was stood in the middle of the group holding a tiny baby and feeding her from a bottle, he was beaming down at her. Elle smiled at him and then felt sick in the pit of stomach as a thought crossed her mind of what she had to do later that night, when everyone was asleep.


	3. Chapter 3

*****Thank you for all the follows and favourites. If anyone could find the time to leave a wee review that would be muchas appreciated. I'd love to hear some feedback.*****

"Why won't she stop crying?" Daryl asked Herschel.

"I'm not sure," he replied. She's been fed, and winded, her diaper is clean, there is nothing obviously wrong with her, sometimes babies just cry."

Daryl was starting to get exasperated, he was holding baby Grimes again, everyone had tried their luck at getting her to settle after her feed, but nothing seemed to be working and Daryl was trying himself again. "You're the only one here who has had children, you must know what to do!" he said to Herschel. With Rick AWOL Herschel was the unfortunate 'parent with experience' within the group.

"I'm ashamed to say, my wife did nearly all the work when the girls were little, I was working or otherwise occupied." Everyone knew of Herschel's past drinking problems and knew that's what he was referring to. Maggie shot Beth a look. Just then Elle came out of the cell she had been sleeping in. Herschel had insisted that she try and rest after her meal as she was still feeling faint. "You shouldn't be up!" Herschel said to her. Elle held her hands up

"I'm feeling much better now thanks, anyway no-one could sleep through the noise this little one is making." She said as she made her way over to the baby in Daryl's arms.

"You take her then!" Daryl said to her, holding the baby on outstretched arms like she was a bomb ready to go off.

"There, there," Elle cooed as she lifted the baby from Daryl. "Has she been winded?"

"Yep!" Maggie answered,

"And her diaper is clean?"

"Yes" said Beth.

"And she doesn't want any more milk!" Daryl said before Elle could ask. "She's not too hot or too cold," Elle thought aloud as she felt the baby's stomach. She tried winding her again in case there was anything still troubling her, but no, nothing. "Give me that blanket over" she said, motioning to the pile of baby stuff next to the diaper bags her and Daryl had brought in. Carl ran over and grabbed it and hurried back to Elle. Elle took it from him; "thanks hon" She folded the blanket in half into a triangle shape and laid it flat onto the table in front of her. "Sometimes, newborns like the feeling of constriction," she said as she lay baby Grimes onto the folded blanket. "They get so used to being all squashed up in their mommy's tummy that when they are born they aren't used to all the space around them." She said to Carl as she wrapped the blanket around baby Grimes and tucked in the ends. "Don't worry, I'm not hurting her." She said to Carl as he looked on wide eyed. "Babies are more robust than you think." Elle picked the still crying baby up from the table and started to rock her in her arms. The baby's cry's settled to whimpers before eventually stopping.

"Amazing" Glenn said, to no-one in particular.

"Here little man, you keep rocking her gently like this and she'll nod off to sleep in no time" She said to Carl as she handed his baby sister to him.

"Should we give her this?" Beth said as she walked over with a pacifier in her hand.

"Nah, I don't think so. There is nothing worse than a baby screaming for a lost binky at the best of times, imagine that with all those things milling around. No, better trying to see if she can cope without it."

A few hours had passed and Baby Grimes had been sleeping soundly in her brother's arms. Elle had been introduced to everyone, and a quick hushed explanation of the circumstances of Baby Grimes entry into this world had been given to her. She felt the tears prick behind her eyes as she looked over at the little boy in the Sheriffs hat, his mother was dead and his dad was m.i.a and there he was looking after his baby sister like she was all he had in the world, hell, she might be all he has in the world depending on what condition his dad is in.

Daryl had spoken to Herschel and Glenn about how he found Elle.

"I think she would make a good addition to the group" Glenn said.

"You can't vote for her to stay just cause she can get the baby to stop crying" Daryl replied.

"Why not? Seems like a valuable skill to have" he sheepishly replied.

"She does have valuable skills," Herschel said "It wouldn't hurt to have someone else around here with some medical training. I can't be everywhere at once, and who knows how long any of us have got here. Look what happened with Lori, if only I had been there with her instead of Maggie, maybe she would still be with us now." The three men all felt the sting of loss, Lori was a big part of the group and her impending birth had been something of hope for them all, losing her would definitely affect them, it was affecting their leader just now.

"We've lost a lot of our group today; I don't think it would do any harm to let Elle join." Herschel said.

"It's a group decision though, everyone needs to be involved. If Ricks not back by tomorrow morning I'll go bring him back, and then we can decide for sure" Daryl said. Something was bugging him about Elle, he didn't know what it was but something was definitely bothering him. He didn't want to worry the rest of the group with his troubles. He would keep an eye on her to make sure. Daryl felt responsible for Elle as he was the one who found her and brought her here, and he was going to be damn sure that nothing would happen to the rest of them because of his actions.

It was getting late, Maggie and Beth decided to share the same cell in order to keep an eye on the baby. As good as Elle was with her she was still effectively a stranger and in no way would she be left with the most vulnerable member of the group. Big brother Carl went in the cell next door to Maggie, Daryl could see how protective he was being of his new little sister.

"Good thing" he thought "Keep his mind off the rest of the shit going on in here"

Elle chose a cell on the upper level of the cell block; she wanted as much privacy as possible for what she had to do. She walked along to the very far end of the walkway, there were no-one else in the three cells along from her, most people were in cells in the ground floor. She noticed Daryl was lying on a pile of blankets diagonally across from the rows of cells "Does he not have a room?" she pondered. The place was pretty dark already and she knew it would only get darker as the night drew in. "I should be ok, just try not to make too much noise Elle and it will be over and done with before anyone notices" she thought to herself.

Everyone said their goodnights and retired to their own quarters. Elle lay in the dark for what seemed like hours. She didn't need to worry about drifting off to sleep and not being able to do what she had planned as she was wide awake. No way her fragile mind was going to let her get any sleep tonight, or any night for that matter. She listened quietly for all the noises emitting from the cells. A faint cough here and there, she was sure she could hear someone snoring in the distance, and baby Grimes had woke up two times for a feed. Now was her best chance, the baby had been put down about twenty minutes ago after her last feed and hadn't made another peep, she was sure she had about four hours for the task at hand. She sat up in her bed quietly, grimacing at the loud creaks coming from the bunk. She glanced over at the pile on the floor where Daryl was sleeping; happy that he was dead to world she took a deep breath.

Daryl was watching Elle's cell intently. What was bothering him so much, a warning siren going off in the back of his mind niggling away at him. She seemed like anyone else in the group, maybe a little quieter and more nervous, but that was to be expected, but Daryl knew not to ignore his instincts, they were the only thing he had to rely on in this world. His instincts had gotten him and the group this far and there was no way he was going to let Elle's appearance throw off his suspicion of her. He played over their meeting in his head; he repeated best he could the conversations they had. It might be something he subconsciously picked up when he was too busy worrying about baby supplies and his survival in the hospital.

That was it! The hospital! Elle had told him she had been shot and was looking for supplies in the hospital, that's why she was there. But why was she on the third floor, surely there was gauze and stuff to clean and stitch a wound on the ground floor. Why did she put herself at extra risk and go through the extra excursion to get to the third floor? It didn't make sense. Just then he heard the bed creaking in Elle's cell and could make out her shadow, she was sitting up on the bed. He decided just to watch her in the meantime. If he went over to her just now, it would blow his cover and she would know he was watching her. After rooting around for a bit Elle lay back down on the bed. "What is she up to?" he worried.

Another couple of hours had passed and Daryl could see Elle sitting up on her bed, rocking backwards and forwards, her behaviour was certainly strange to say the least. Then a noise came from her cell. "Is that…..moaning?" Daryl thought. "Now's the time, screw blowing his cover" He silently got up, lifted his crossbow that was under his covers with him and stealthy made his way over to Elle's cell. When he got there he saw her sitting on the edge of her bed, bent over clutching her abdomen. "What's going on?" he whispered angrily. Elle shot her head round in surprise

"Nothing, I'm just not feeling well is all" she weakly replied. In the moonlight Daryl could see she was sweating badly, her forehead and clothes were soaked. Fearing the worst he took the keys from his waistband and locked Elle's cell door.

"Have you got the fever? You told me you weren't bit." He said as he raised his crossbow to aim at Elle's head.

"No! Please! Don't lock me in, I can't handle being locked up! I'm not bit I promise!" Elle pleaded.

"You're sure as hell acting like it!" Daryl replied, never lowering his weapon. Elle stood up from the bed and stumbled over to the door.

"Please don't lock me up like this!" But Daryl wasn't listening; his eyes were drawn to the dark red patch of blood on the bed where Elle had been sitting.

"What's going on?" He demanded to know. Elle followed his gaze and saw what he was looking at, her head dropped as she held onto the cell bars for support.

"I'm a…I'm having a miscarriage" she whispered.

"What? Wait here, I'll go and get Herschel," Daryl said as he motioned to move away.

"No! Wait!" Elle said forcefully, "please don't get Herschel, don't tell anyone. I need this to happen."

"What do you mean? You're ill, you're bleeding for Christ's sake." Daryl replied.

"I induced this, I need this to happen. I'm begging you, please, don't tell anyone else, don't try and stop this!"


	4. Chapter 4

*****Thanks for the reviews guys!*****

"Wait, what did you just say?" Daryl blinked at Elle incredulously; he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "What did you just say?" He asked again, louder this time.

"I said I induced this" Elle whispered.

"What do you mean you 'induced' it!" He spat the words out.

"Daryl please, I don't need the third degree right now."

"You tell me the hell what's going on Elle or I'll keep you locked in there while I go tell everyone else what's going on!"

Elle could tell he was being serious; his eyes were blazing with rage. "Ok, just please keep your voice down, Daryl. There isn't much to tell to be honest. I fell pregnant, knew I couldn't raise a baby in this world and decided the best thing to do would be to end the pregnancy. I went to the hospital to treat my injury from the gunshot and I also got some medication used to end early pregnancies. I knew what I was looking for from my time in the hospital, that's the same hospital I was based in when I was a med student."

"You don't look like you know what you're doing!" Daryl said. Elle knew she was in a bad way, she had terrible abdominal cramps and she was bleeding heavily, her temperature was steadily increasing and she was sweating profusely, she was struggling just to stay conscious.

"I know it looks bad, but it's how it's supposed to happen….I think" Elle told him.

"What do you mean 'you think'? Elle are you ok?" "Well, I'm not sure how far along I am, so I took a bit extra just to make sure." Elle answered. Daryl couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"How can you not know how far along you are, Elle are you sure this is meant to happen this way?" Elle couldn't make out what Daryl was saying. It sounded like she was underwater, her eyes started blur and the blackness started to cloud over.

Daryl could see she was about to faint again, he fumbled with the keys in the door but she had already collapsed to the floor, not before smacking her head off the metal bed frame. "Fuck" Daryl hissed. He unlocked the door and swung it open, he gingerly picked Elle up into his arms and carried her downstairs to Herschel's cell. "Herschel! Herschel! Get up! I need you!" Daryl hollered from across the cell block. One by one the cell doors started opening, Glenn was the first to race out.

"What's happened, what's wrong?" he asked.

"Back up Glenn, I need Herschel!" Daryl grunted at him. Glenn ran on ahead to Herschel's cell to help him up. By the time Daryl got there Herschel was already up

"Lay her down on my bed" he instructed Daryl. "What happened to her?" He asked. Daryl turned around to the group of onlookers outside Herschel's cell.

"Give the girl some privacy; ain't you got nothing better to do?"

Elle knew she was dreaming, blurred memories and imagined scenarios flitted through her mind. She saw the attack on her camp again; only a handful of walkers were all it took to destroy everything, as she watched it from above all she could feel was relief. Then the loud bang of a gunshot and the searing pain in her side. Next thing she knew she was clinging on for dear life to Daryl on the back of his motorcycle, but this time she felt fearful and sick. A strange sense of foreboding overcame her and she thrashed and trashed to get off his bike. She fell off to the side and kept falling and falling into a dark chasm of blackness, she felt like she fell for forever, but there was no fear or worry only contentment, she could happily stay there forever, then a sound started to worm it's way into her ear, a high pitched squealing noise, getting louder and louder and nearer and nearer till all she could do was put her hands to her ears and squeeze her eyes shut to try and block it out. She woke with a start on Herschel's bed, baby Grimes crying outside in the cell block. She looked around the room.

"Don't get up" the voice came from the corner behind her, Elle turned round to see Herschel sitting on chair holding a book which he had been reading. "You've been out for some time, you had a very high fever and your body has been doing all it can to fight it. You seem to be back to normal now, temperature wise, but," Herschel lowered his voice to a whisper "you've lost a lot of blood, it's wise to rest up as much as you can. Give your body time to heal" Elle felt her face flush.

"What did Daryl tell you?" She asked the old doctor.

"Daryl did the right thing, telling me, you can't blame him. Frankly, dear, you were foolish going through what you did alone." Elle felt the shame spike through her conscious like an icicle. "I personally believe that every child is a blessing," Herschel continued "But I don't judge, that's not down to me. I understand that it is a completely different world we live in now, and, if truth be told, if one of my girls were in the same situation I honestly don't know what would be the best course of action." The tears started to slide down Elle's face,

"Thank you" she said. "I hope everyone else is as understanding as you are Herschel."

"No-one else knows my dear, other than Daryl and me" Herschel replied. "They think it's complications connected to your injury and Daryl hasn't let anyone get within ten feet of this cell, I've heard him roar at a few unfortunate souls more than once today" Herschel chuckled. Elle looked up at his kind face and smiled until the smile faded from his face. "Now, you understand that I had to examine you when you were unconscious,"

"Oh" Elle said.

"And I couldn't help but notice the considerable bruising and swelling on your lower half Elle. Do you want to tell me what happened?" Herschel enquired. Elle just stared at him dumbstruck, would she have to go through it all again? It was hard enough living with the memories of what happened to her, but to verbalise it, to put it out there. She had never spoken it out loud at all and she didn't think she had to strength to even say the words.

"You seem like a wise man Herschel; I think you already know what happened." It was barely a whisper, but it was out, she had all but admitted to another human being what had happened to her. Herschel simply nodded at her and made a move to stand up.

"You don't have to leave," Elle said, "this is your cell, I'll go back to mine"

"You'll do no such thing! I told you, you need your rest, you stay here as long as you need. I'll be back to check on you in a little bit." Herschel stood up awkwardly and walked out of the cell on his crutches. When he got to the door he turned round and gave Elle a little smile. She saw the look in his eyes; it was a kick to the guts for her. Pity. He pitied her, and here she was again, in a group of new people, strangers, and she was branded again. Victim. She turned onto her side and cried into her pillow until she fell asleep.

Daryl stood outside Herschel's door and watched Elle sleep, he was in two minds whether to wake her or not. Rick had returned to the cell block that morning, but it was a flying visit. Daryl decided against telling him about Elle yet, given his fragile state of mind he didn't think it would do him any good. Daryl was going into the tombs of the prison to try and clear some more of it out. It didn't need to be done. They were quite safe were they were with the doors locked, but he was certain Carl needed something to keep him occupied. The kid was on edge, after what happened with his mother, and trying to look after a newborn baby and whatever was going on with Rick, Daryl could see Carl needed a distraction. Before the walkers turned up and everyone started eating each other, Daryl would've took Carl hunting or fishing, the way Merle sometimes used to take him when they were young, but that world has long since gone, this was the closest thing they had to that now. Daryl turned to walk away when he heard Elle talking in her sleep.

"No, no don't!" She sounded frightened, she was having a nightmare. Daryl walked into the cell and sat on the edge of the bed

"Elle, wake up!" he said and started to shake her.

"Leave me alone!" She was almost screaming now. Daryl grabbed both her shoulders and started to shake her forcefully.

"Elle, wake up, your having a bad dream" Before he knew what was happening Elle's left fist had flew up and clocked him square on the jaw.

"Son of a bitch!" Daryl shouted while rubbing at his face.

"Oh my God, I'm sorry. I was having a nightmare and.." Elle babbled.

"I know you were having a nightmare, last time I try and help you out!" Elle just stared at the man sitting on her bed.

"Are you ok?" she asked him

"Of course I'm ok, I've taken a lot harder than that" He stood up from the bed. "I just came in to check you were ok and to let you know that I'm going further into the prison for a bit. I'm taking Carl and Oscar. Herschel is just outside if you need him and Maggie is on hand if you need anything else," Daryl felt his face blush.

"Ok, thank you Daryl...for everything." Elle told him

"Ain't nothing!" he replied while turning and walking out the cell.


	5. Chapter 5

Elle got up from Herschel's bed. Although he had told her to use his cell for as long as she needed, she felt as if she was imposing. She was embarrassed at everyone tiptoeing around her. If she didn't want to feel like a victim this time she was the one that had to do something about it. This was a new group of people, a fresh start (although that was debateable, her fresh start had already been tainted by a gunshot wound, fainting in Oscar's arms and Daryl waking the entire cell block in the middle of the night carrying her in his arms.)

As she gingerly stepped out of the cell into the main area, all eyes were on her. She felt the pang of self consciousness again, but took a deep breath and smiled.

"Hi Elle, how you holding up?" asked Maggie.

"I'm feeling better thanks. I'm tired of lying down. I need to stretch my legs." Elle replied, looking at Herschel who was looking at her with concern.

"Do you want to go out for some fresh air?" Maggie asked.

"I would love to," Elle replied "I feel like I've been cooped up for ages."

"Just make sure and take it easy then Elle. Push yourself too much and you will be cooped up for days." Herschel said.

"Ok, I promise." Elle said, while crossing her heart with her fingers.

Maggie stepped forward and looped arms with Elle and led her towards the door to the yard. "Jeez, you would think he was your daddy!" Maggie whispered.

"It just feels nice to have someone concerned about me to be honest." Elle said.

"Oh, were you on your own before Daryl brought you here? I thought he said you were part of a group that got split up?" Maggie asked.

"Yeah, I was part of a group, but I wasn't really close to anyone there, and eh, nothing ever really happened to me in order to need their concern." Elle lied.

The fresh air hit them as they opened the door. Although it was normal Georgia heat, the gentle breeze felt good against Elle's skin. Maggie guided her towards some stairs next to a fenced off walkway. They chatted for a while and Elle let herself enjoy Maggie's company, she was a very likable person, so open and friendly.

"So, this Rick guy, what's he like?" Ellie tried to sound nonchalant as possible.

"He's real nice," Maggie smiled, "he's been through a lot recently though," her smile slowly faded. "He's a good man, strong too. He'll come back to us and get us through this together."

"Maggie, I don't know if Rick would appreciate you airing his dirty laundry."

The girls looked around and discovered that Glenn had snuck up behind them. He was currently fixing Maggie a 'be quiet' stare.

"Oh don't be such an old man Glenn; it feels good having someone my age around to chat to." Maggie replied.

"Yeah, but we don't know if she's staying yet." Glenn whispered, as if to spare Elle's feelings, although, as he was on her right side and Maggie was on her left he practically whispered it on top of her and Elle heard every word.

"I think I'm gonna head back inside." Elle went to stand.

"You'll do no such thing, sit there." Maggie said as she grabbed Elle's arm to sit her back down.

Elle flinched away from the unexpected touch. Both Glenn and Maggie exchanged looks.

"No seriously, it's ok; I'm starting to get a bit sore anyway. I'd better be getting back in before Herschel comes looking for me." Elle noticed that neither Glenn nor Maggie said anything to each other as Elle made her way back inside the prison. She knew they were waiting till she was out of earshot so they could discuss her behaviour.

As she entered the cell block, she immediately noticed the strange face in the middle of the group. Everyone was looking to him as he held the baby. She had to assume that this was Rick. He turned towards her as the door creaked closed behind her. The ice-cold look in his eyes made her stomach knot up in apprehension.

"Rick, this is Elle." Herschel announced.

Twenty minutes later Elle found herself in Herschel's cell again, but this time the door was locked. Rick had asked her to step in while he discussed her situation with the group. Maggie and Glenn had been brought inside and even Carl had been invited to join in.

Elle's anxiety was rising, she felt trapped, the locked door had her on edge and, contrary to Maggie's description of Rick, he scared the hell out of her. She tried to slow down her breathing, control her emotions, but it was difficult when she knew there was no escape from her cell.

It felt like another thirty minutes passed before she heard anything. The sound of a single set of footsteps echoed towards the cell. Rick appeared at the door.

"I'd like to have a word with you if that's ok?" he seemed to stare right through her. All Elle could do was nod her head. Rick unlocked the cell door and walked in. He pulled a chair to face the bed where she was sitting.

"I'm led to believe that Daryl found you in the hospital?" he enquired.

"Yes." She answered, meekly.

"You were part of a group? What happened to them?" Rick asked.

"We were camped out in the woods. We moved from place to place, just scavenging, surviving. One night a hoard of those monsters came upon us. People were shouting and screaming. It was chaos. I was just trying to get away when I got shot. Must have been caught in the crossfire. I ran until I couldn't run anymore. I knew the hospital was nearby and decided to fix myself up. That's when Daryl found me." She smiled at Rick trying to seem unthreatening, showing gratitude.

"Why don't you want to look for the rest of your group?" Rick asked, seeing right through Elle's smile.

"I, eh, wasn't particularly close to any of them. Didn't have any relatives with them. Probably nothing to go back to anyway." Elle answered.

"How many in your group?" Rick asked.

"There were 16 when they found me, then gradually the numbers dwindled down to 7 or 8 by the end." She answered best she could.

"Ok Elle, in order to join this group I have to be able to trust you, and in order to do that I need you to be truthful" He levelled a look straight at her. "Herschel told me that someone hurt you."

"Is that a question?" Elle asked, looking at the ground.

"Elle, look at me." Rick almost ordered.

She did as she was told and met his gaze.

"Was it someone from your group?" Rick asked, softer this time.

All Elle could do was nod her head as fat tears fell from her eyes.

"Who was it?" He asked her, sounding concerned for the first time.

Elle shook her head, physically unable to speak.

"If you want any chance of joining us, you have to tell me. I have women and children here that I need to protect. If there is a danger out there, then I need to know about it!"

Elle whispered an answer so softly that Rick didn't hear her.

"What?" He asked.

"All of them, all of them hurt me…repeatedly."


	6. Chapter 6

*****Thank you for all the favourites and follows, it's great to know so many people are interested in this story. Please remember to review so I can get feedback from you guys! Anyway, here's the next chapter. Enjoy!*********

Rick was taken aback. It wasn't what he expected. To be honest, he hadn't thought of Elle's situation at all, he was too concerned with everyone else he had to try and protect. He looked at her, really looked at her for the first time. Her head was down, she was crying silently with the occasional sob, she was shaking, and he realised just how small she was, she was practically curled up into a ball on the side of her bed.

Rick recognised the signs of abuse, he had been a deputy sheriff before the world ended and unfortunately he had encountered his fair share of rape and abuse victims. Elle had all the hallmarks. He could tell she wasn't lying about that.

"I'm sorry that happened to you, I really am. But I still have decision to make with the others."

Elle sniffed and looked up at him; she nodded her head "Ok."

Rick stood up and walked from the cell. He closed the door over and pulled the keys from his belt.

"Please don't lock the door; I'll stay in the cell. I promise." Elle looked at Rick with tear filled eyes. His hand dropped and he walked away from the cell.

"I ain't no babysitter!" Daryl yelled. The group had been discussing their situation for about 10 minutes before Rick made his excuse to leave and return to the tombs of the prison. Herschel had noticed how he seemed distracted, but he thought how that was understandable considering his own predicament. However, before he left Rick had told them that Elle didn't seem to be dangerous and he believed her story about being raped by her group. He had instructed Daryl to keep a close eye on her whilst they decided what to do. This is what caused Daryl's outburst.

"You heard Rick" Herschel said, "She still needs monitored while we decide what to do."

"And you heard me" Daryl replied "I. Ain't. No. Babysitter!" he spat out. Get Glenn or Maggie to do it. I got more important things to do!"

"Like what?" Glenn asked

"I need to clear out some more walkers, make the place more secure after the breach." He replied, softer this time. Daryl chewed on his lip as he thought about Carol, he couldn't bear the thought of her alone down there, whether she had been devoured by those things or reanimated as one. He had to go find her, and bring her back. He knew it was something he needed to do. "I'll take Carl; keeps his mind off what's going on."

"I'll come too if you don't mind" Oscar and Axel hadn't been involved in the conversation but Oscar had been listening all the same. "I just need a change of scenery" Oscar told them.

"It's not a daytrip. We're going to kill these things." Daryl eyed him suspiciously.

"I know. I can be useful too, plus I need to practise how to deal with the walkers up close" he replied.

Daryl nodded his head.

"That still doesn't solve what you're going to do about Elle." Herschel reminded him.

Daryl was furious. "I told you! She's not my damn problem!" He yelled.

Herschel held his hands up in front of him to placate Daryl "I know son, we just have to make sure we are all safe, is all"

This didn't calm Daryl down at all. In fact, it made him angrier. Spurred on with the grief and guilt over Carol and Lori, he aggressively got into Herschel's face.

"I'M NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR EVERY DAMN PERSON IN HERE! YOU SHOULD ALL BE ABLE TO TAKE CARE OF YOURSELVES! THEN MAYBE...!" His breath caught, and his eyes started to water. The feeling of grief nearly overwhelmed him, as he thought of Carol. He wasn't there to help her, to protect her, he should've been there.

He quickly turned on his heels. "C'mon! Let's go!" he barked. Carl and Oscar jumped and followed him out grabbing their weapons as they went.

Daryl yelled as he was leaving "I'm not responsible for anyone, anymore. Throw her out for all I care!"

"We rely on him too much, him and Rick!" Herschel said. "They do so much for us, and we let them. I think it's high time for us to shoulder some of that burden!" Herschel felt guilty for being the one to put Daryl in a rage. He wouldn't stand for they way Daryl spoke to him and he would tell him so later, but he realised exactly why he reacted like he did.

"Glenn and I will watch Elle" Maggie volunteered.

As they approached Elle's cell they realised that she must have been able to hear Daryl's outburst.

"How are you feeling?" Maggie asked as she opened the cell door?

"I'm ok" Elle answered. "I guess we just wait and see now"

Maggie nodded her head.

After hearing Daryl's harsh words Elle had started to think about being back outside. She had done it before on her own, she could do it again. Or could she? She was a lot stronger, physically and mentally beforehand, her last group had left her broken. 'But I did escape' she thought to herself. 'I'm still alive, I can do it again.'

Maggie could see that Elle was thinking things over in her head. "You know, you can always talk to me about anything, you know that? I know, you don't know me personally but it can sometimes help to get things off your chest." Maggie, Glenn and the others had heard about Elle being raped by her previous group. Rick had no intention of hiding the facts when he returned from Elle's cell to discuss her staying with the group. In fact he had been quite blasé. It had shocked Beth so much that she physically gasped out loud.

"Thanks" Elle said, "That means a lot, I can't actually remember the last time I spoke to another woman."

Maggie reached her arm out slowly and gave Elle's hand a squeeze.

"Ok Maggie lets go." Glenn said from outside the cell. He never went in with Maggie, he didn't really know how to act around Elle, but he stood outside the entire time watching Maggie and Elle together.

Maggie rolled her eyes. "It's hard enough having one dad in here with me, I don't need another." She teased him. "Remember what I said, Elle. I mean it" she gave Elle's hand a final squeeze and stood up from the bed and left the cell.

Elle lay back down and thought of the last time she spoke to another woman. She could remember it clearly; she just couldn't remember how long ago it was. She had lost all track of time being held prisoner in tent, only being allowed out to go to the bathroom.

The last woman she spoke to was called Elizabeth. Elizabeth had been placed in Elle's tent one night to serve as a warning when Elle had tried to fight back with a particularly nasty member of the group. He slapped Elle around a little, her nose had burst and her eye was swollen over. But that was nothing when compared to when Elizabeth was thrown into her tent. Her body was black and blue, all over, not one area of her wasn't injured. She had bite marks on her shoulders, neck and breasts. But the worst was her face, her nose had been broken so badly the bridge was smashed flat against her face, she couldn't breathe out of it. Her lips were cut and swollen and so painful looking, her eyes were black, one had closed over completely and the other wasn't much better, and her hair was matted on top of her head, complete with dried blood.

Elle was so shocked she started crying.

"Do what they want and don't fight back." Elizabeth had croaked out to Elle.

"W..w..w..what?" Elle replied.

"They like to keep a pretty girl, one who isn't marked up too badly. Believe me, if you think what they are doing to you just now is bad..." Elizabeth couldn't finish her sentence; it hung in the air, loaded with intent.

"I used to be the pretty girl, until I got a bit feisty one night, and fought back with one of them. He cracked me with the butt of his gun. When I came to, my face was covered in dried blood, and I had no teeth." Elizabeth used her fingers to part the swollen lips of her mouth, to show Elle the lack of teeth on her upper or lower jaw.

"That's when the real fun began" Elizabeth gave a mirthless laugh. Once you're 'ugly' they don't have to be careful with you, or hold back any. They can be as rough and depraved as they like." Elizabeth's eye, the one still opened, had glazed over.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry" Elle cried.

"Don't worry about me, it's nearly over. Just concentrate on keeping yourself pretty or you'll be relegated once they find another girl."

Elle caught a part of what Elizabeth said. "What do you mean 'it's nearly over'?" Elle asked.

Elizabeth smiled, or at least the best smile she could give with her face being in the condition it was. "I'm pregnant" she said.

"Does that mean they'll stop?" Elle asked.

Elizabeth laughed, a real laugh this time. "No, silly, they'll kill me."

Just then a member of the group Elle thought was called Richard came into the tent. "Did you's girls have a nice old chat?" he asked looking between them. "Come on Elizabeth, on your feet." He grabbed Elizabeth's upper arm and pulled her up alongside him. "Willie wants to see you!"

"Remember what I said!" Elizabeth told Elle, looking directly at her. "Don't fight them!" That was the last time she spoke to a woman. She never saw Elizabeth again, but she did what she said. She never fought back and let those animals do what they wanted to her. She never wanted to end up like Elizabeth, that was worse than becoming one of those dead things, at least they didn't feel anything.

Elle kept to her word and stayed in her cell the rest of the day. She was starting to get hungry and was considering getting up to see if she could have anything to eat when she heard a commotion coming from the common area.

"HERSCHEL! HERSCHEL!"

Elle jumped up and went out to see what was happening; surely no more of the dead could get to them in here.

When she turned around the corner she saw Daryl walking into the middle of the room with a woman in his arms, he placed her down on a table as everyone gathered round her.

"Carol?! Oh my god Carol is she ok?" asked Beth who was nearest.

"Is she bit?" Glenn asked.

Elle walked down slowly to the table to take a look at the woman. She was covered in blood, sweat and dirt. Daryl was out of breath and stood back whilst Herschel looked over Carol.

A pang of recognition went off in Elle's head. She went in closer for another look, when she felt herself being stopped. She flinched at the touch of someone's hand grabbing her arm; she turned around to see Daryl letting her go.

"Don't go near her!" Daryl ordered.

"I just want a look at her face, I think I know her" Elle said. She moved in a little and studied her; it was hard to tell with all the dirt.

"It is her! That's Carol Peletier!"


End file.
